Practice on Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses

Great Holy Days of the Buddhist Calendar

The Fifteen Days of Miracles (Days 1-15 of Month 1; Day 15 is called Chotrul Duchen): Guru Shakyamuni Buddha shows miraculous powers in order to subdue six Tirthika, or non-Buddhist teachers, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers.

Lhabab Duchen (Day 22 of Month 9): Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the god realm Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods there, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there.

Practices for Merit Multiplying Days

On merit multiplying days*, karmic results are multiplied by 100 million, as cited by Lama Zopa Rinpoche from the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic. Practices specifically recommended by Rinpoche for merit multiplying days include:

Of course, any other meritorious activities often advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche are also good to do on these days.

In addition, you might consider including children in your merit multiplying day celebrations and reading Eight Plays for Children. This book of charming and easily produced plays for children contains tales of wisdom and kindness from his past lives as animals as well as his life as Prince Siddharta.

Advice for Lunar and Solar Eclipses

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches students that the merit generated on lunar eclipses is multiplied by 700,000 and by 100 million on solar eclipses. Rinpoche also teaches that the multiplying effect of eclipses occurs whether the eclipse is partial or full. Also, Rinpoche advised that the merit multiplying effect does not last the whole calendar day and that merit making activities should be carried out during the time of the eclipse itself. Any beneficial practices can be done including, but not limited to:

*According to the late Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, observation of auspicious days should be according to the date in India, not the date in one’s home country. Therefore, when Lama Zopa Rinpoche is not in India, Rinpoche celebrates Buddha Days and other auspicious dates according to the time in India.

Basically, the human mind is mostly unconscious, ignorant, and gets so preoccupied with new experiences, that it forgets the old ones. Review the past month: exactly what happened, precisely what feelings did you have, every day? You can’t remember, can you? But if you practice this slowly, slowly, continuously checking within your mind, eventually, you’ll be able to remember more and more of your previous experiences.